I had just gone to Sampan for a regular meal, but after finding out about their happy hour, I decided to go check that out as well. There are a number of small plates for $2 and drink specials too. What’s to lose with $2 appetizers?
One of the cocktail specials… fruity… tasty… We got some seats at the kitchen bar, so you could watch all the action.
Up top we have the scallop with haricot vert, mustard, and almond. Delicious, and well cooked. Bottom is the chicken and shrimp spring roll. They serve it with mustard, but I really wish they just gave me duck sauce. I’m terrible that way. The roll it self was really good though.
The chicken dumplings with soy, sesame, scallions, and radish. Meh.
The chicken satay. This was bland. It was beyond bland. The peanut sauce was fine, but the chicken tasted like nothing. And the chicken had crunchy bits in it. I did not enjoy that. What was it, knuckle or something? Please skip this.
The korean bbq rib, which I got before, and liked before. I still like it! It’s still great!
The lamb chop! I’m not even into lamb, but this was my favorite dish of the night. For real! It’s got a little panko breadcrumb action going on with ginger and yakitori sauce.
The kobe beef hot dog! So yeah, I paid $2 for a hot dog. But the hot dog was made with kobe beef! But it still tasted just like a regular beef hot dog. It was a good dog though, don’t get me wrong. They serve it with mustard but I wish they would have just given me some ketchup. I know ketchup on a hot dog is for weenies, but that’s what I prefer! They broil these little dogs so the outside of them bursts when you bite into em and the rolls also have a bit of crunch. I would get this again! As far as happy hour deals go, this is a pretty darn good one! Get it while it lasts!

Anyone living on the east coast knows how damn hot it has been this summer. And when it’s this hot, I don’t ever want to cook, let alone cook anything warm. But you know, a girl’s gotta eat. So on one of these scorching days, I whipped up the easiest cold soba dish known to man. So here’s how easy it is. You cook some soba noodles, per the directions. After draining, rinse them well with cold water, and add a few ice cubes to help them cool down right away. If you have a cucumber, julienne that up and toss that in with the noodles. Then it’s sauce time.

Ok, so I cheated. I didn’t even make the sauce. I used some existing packets of sauce that come with mul naengmyun. Here’s the thing. If you go to a korean market and buy frozen mul naengmyun kits, they come with the naengmyun noodles, packets of the cold broth, and also packets of spicy dressing. I buy these kits strictly to make the mul naengmyun, so I only use the broth packets. So I had all these spicy dressing packets left over and didn’t really know what to do with them, but kept them in the freezer. So I just decided to use those. And you know what? It was amazing. It’s a teeny bit on the spicy side, but it works perfectly with the soba noodles. The dressing is spicy, sweet, and a little bit savory. I told you this was easy! All I had to do was boil some noodles and cut some cucumbers. Seriously. And then I had to cut the spicy packet open. Even I am capable of performing these rudimentary tasks.

This is a total hot day lazyman dish, and I love it. Why slave in a hot kitchen? These are the brand of soba noodles I used. They claim to be No. 1 in Japan. But if you look at the packet, they’re made in Australia. It would surprise me that an Australian made noodle would be tops in Japan, but I guess I have to believe the package! But I really like these. And they are a bit on the pricier side, but hey, it’s organic, and you don’t want to skimp on soba noodles!

Sampan is Philadelphia’s latest entry into the celebrity chef dining scene, with Michael Schulson at the helm. It’s a modern asian tapas type of joint, with asian inspired small plates. The place is pretty cool looking even from the outside. Look at those crazy wooden slats, they totally draw you in!

It is a small plates place, and they recommend 3-5 plates per person. And each plate is not cheap. So get ready to spend! Here we have the edamame dumplings. These little translucent pockets are filled with a puree of edamame. The consistency is very creamy and ricotta cheese-like. It is served with a very mild sake based broth. These are very different and delicious! Don’t expect tons of flavor, as these are quite subtle.
Here are the kobe beef satays, with apricot, soy, and mirin. These were pretty good, but I don’t know man, they’re awfully expensive for two teeny little skewers of meat. I realize that the kobe cows are massaged daily by their individual handlers and pampered and such, but I’m just not sure that’s worth it when you just put hunks of their meat on sticks.
Here are some more meats on sticks that I can get a bit more excited about. These are the korean BBQ beef satays. They’ve basically taken bulgogi, rolled them and stuck them on sticks, and topped them with kimchi. Yes sir, these were fantastic!
Here we have something with slightly more heft, the pork banh mi, or at least Sampan’s take on the banh mi. It has berkshire pork belly as the main ingredient, with the standard carrot, cucumber, and cilantro as fixins. This is not nearly like the banh mi you will find at your neighborhood vietnamese sandwich joint, but these are definitely yummy. They do not have the shredded daikon, which I love, so that kind of bummed me out a little bit. And there’s a sauce in there that’s not typically found in other banh mi. It’s also pricey for a banh mi, that’s for damn sure, but for Sampan, it’s one of their tastiest bargains. E was absolutely crazy about this, and this was probably her favorite dish of the night.
Here is Sampan’s version of the “Philly Cheese Steak”. It’s got shredded beef plopped on little toasted buns, and are topped with shallot, cheese, and sriracha. These are a bit on the salty side, but I really enjoyed them anyway. The strong smell of the cheese threw me off initially, but then once my nose got used to it, I really found these to be quite delicious. I think this was probably my favorite of the night, along with the korean bbq satays. They don’t really taste anything like philly cheesesteaks at all, but I think that’s a good thing.We topped off the evening with a visit to Capogiro, my first all summer. I got half blackberry and half yellow plum sorbetto. Jimminy christmas trees, was this yellow plum some of the most fantastic frozen treats I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten yellow plums, but if they taste like this, then sign me up! The blackberry was delicious as well, and really tasted intensely like blackberries, but the yellow plum just blew me away. Definitely thumbs up on both the dinner and the dessert!